The Chinese delegation came away from Sochi with 3 gold medals, 4 silvers and 2 bronze, good for 12th in the medals table. China Sports Insider reviews the highs and lows…

Best performance

Zhang Hong, gold, 1,000 m speed skating. Starting in the 7th of 18 heats (when the top ranked skaters typically go at the end), Zhang started slowly but then turned on the burners. Her time ripped up the track record and no one even came close – her winning margin was bigger than the previous four finals combined. Best of all, it was China’s first ever long track Olympic title.

The BBC’s Martin Patience makes the good point that Zhangjiakou doesn’t have a hill large enough to host the downhill were China to win the 2022 Olympics. Fake snow? Check. Clear the skies? No problem. Bigger hill? Hmmm….

It’s a slow day on the Olympic front for China – just Li Zijun and Zhang Kexin (currently 11th and 14th respectively) in the ladies figure skating – so here’s a picture that proves beyond all doubt that the Olympics have resulted in a huge growth for winter sports in China…

After making history by reaching their first ever Olympic semifinal, the Chinese men’s curling team fell short against Canada on Wednesday night, losing 10-6 in a high-scoring game that equaled the record for total number of points in a semifinal.